A jump scare in a book. It’s like playing Five Nights at Freddy’s. This is horror for people who are okay with not getting all of the answers and like to sit in the creepiness of a haunted house.
Macy Mullins is taking care of her younger sister Jemma, they are close to being evicted and can’t afford her asthma inhaler. Their father has died, they used to work together at his landscaping business and now Macy and Jemma are barely getting by. She gets the chance to be a caretaker for a woman who is a multimillionaire- and gets paid handsomely just to watch their house and follow the rites. So she has to do things like turn off lights, catch bunnies who get inside, watch tapes on a VCR “if this happens” read letters; keep her heart rate under 150. If she fails, and she often does, then things get worse.
As I read this book I found myself reading quicker and quicker. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t stand not knowing what would happen next. The reader will be rooting for Macy to survive the night and will be irritated with her as she is trying to fight her case. There is just enough character development and back story for me to care about the people in the story, it there isn’t enough for me to know the difference between a “visitor” and the person that the visitor is pretending to be.
This would make a great horror movie. Bring the popcorn!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler for the ARC. Book to be published 4/20/26.
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